Process of manufacturing producer-gas.



E. FLEISCHER.

PROCESS 0F MANUFACIURING PRODUCER GAS.

APPLlcAnor.' FILED MAY13,|914.

1 ,273,474. Patented July 23, 1918.

EMIL FLEISCHER, DRESDEN-ALTSYTADT, GERMANY.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING PRODUCER-GAS.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented July 23, 1918.

Application tiled May 13, 1914. Serial No. 838,347.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it 4known that I, EMIL FLEiscHEn, doctor of philosophy, chemist, a subject of ,the German Emperor, and resident of Dresden-Altstadt, in the Kingdom of Saxony, Germany, Tiergartenstrasse 32, have invented a new and useful Process of Manufacturing Producer-Gas, of which the following is a specification.

In specification of U. S. Patent No.

1 1,041,058, a process is described of manilfacturing a hot producer gas of over 1000 C. by distilling non-bituminous fuels such as coke, anthracite, or charcoal. The present invention relates to manufacturing such hot gas from bituminous fuels. The process is also suitable for obtaining lb yproducts of coal such as tar, or ammonia, and at the same time a mixed gas of high caloric value.

The fulfilment of the objects of this invention introduces new and diiiicult problems in the manufacture of hot gas, which are solved according to the new process.

As explained in the prior specification, the manufacture of hot gas is effected merely by the fuel which enters the zone from which the hot as escapes, being already heated practical y to the temperature of the hot gas. This preliminary heating in the process for manufacturin hot gas from nonbituminous fuels, is e ected by a small portion (about 10%) of the hot gas which passes through the upper column of fuel and escapes as cooling gas.

The same process obviously could 'be used even in the case of fuels which are only slightly bituminous such as anthracite coals. For ordinary bituminous coals, however, it would be necessary to lead for the purpose a very considerable quantity of gas through the upper layers of coal in order to effect distillation and also to heat the coke produced to the hot as temperature. For the distillation Vof 1 rg. coal alone requires a quantity of heat of in round figures '400 calories. If therefore bituminous coal were to be treated in exactly the same way as coke or anthracite, it would be impossible to obtain an good yield of hot gas. Moreover, the vo atile products of the coal such as tar, ammonia, or li hting gas would be sostrongly diluted owing to the large consumption of hot gas for distillation, that it would be impossible to rely on an economic production of these byproducts or to expect a mixed gas of high calorific value.

Therefore it was necessary to adopt a new method in order to accomplish the above mentioned objects. The principle of the present process is as followszBefore the coals reach the zone from which the hot gas escapes, they must be practically completely coked. In order, however, to insure that result, it is necessary to form above the zone from which the hot gas escapes, a separate fuel layer which receives from above-namely the distilling chamber-almost completely coked coal, and delivers below highly heated coke to the hot gas zone. In that way, the conditions for obtaining hot gas are complied with, and its manu acture is insured.

In order to insure good preliminary heating of the separated fuel layer, a small quantity of liot gas entering from below passes through the said layer, but is burnt by means of secondary air blown in, before it escapes from this preliminary heating compartment. In that way heat is supplied to the fuel in the said preliminary heating compartment, both from below and from above. The hot gases pass from the reliminary heating compartment directly into the coal. distillin compartment situated above, and effects distillation of the coal contained therein. Thus, on the one hand, all the conditions for the hot gas manufacture are complied with, and at the same time only a small portion of the hot gas need be sacriced for distilling the coal. 'Of course, the coal discontrary,'it isv advantageous to mix steam With this secondary air, which facilitates distillation of the coals without any dilu- .tion of the waste gas being produced, thereby (as steam is precipitated in the condenser).

I have proposed in the application of my prior patent named above to introduce.

secondary air in the upper art of the producer in order to burn car on monoxid at once, and use the heat thus obtained to heat the fuel fed downward to the main combustion zone.

Further experiments proved that by using secondary air, as above described, it is also possible lto use bituminous fuels which are transformed into gases. .They are not only decomposed into their combustible ingredients, but also into the ingredients which can be subsequently distilled, such as tar and ammonia-containing gases, which are thus easily and commercially obtained. The difference between the prior invention and the present invention is that, according to the latter, a preliminary heating layer or zone is provided which receives from above almost completely distilled coal which, however, is not sufficiently hot.

A very important point (apart from the fact that the cooking process is completed in the preliminary heating zone) is that the coke thus obtained is so strongly heated that when it enters the zone from which the l hot gas is obtained, 'it is already as hot as '30 involves a difference inthe whole process.

the said gas. The present invention consequently serves a new purpose, which is to distil efficiently the bituminous fuel, so that only hot coke reaches the hot zone, while bituminous fuel is fed-in at the top of the producer.' This die'rence in the .purpose No secondary air can reach the preliminary heating zone or layer, but only non-burnt hot gas. The secondary air is introduced above the said zone or layer in order to turn the coal into coke. Thus the secondary air is used for distilling the fcoal and for coking, the coke thus obtained being subsequently heated by means of non-burnt hot .gas to a higher temperature in the preliminary zone located below. Y p

Ordinary producers are not suitable for lcarrying out the process, but the producer must be built in accordance with the followv ing principles.

' As will be seen from the accompanying drawing, which shows in vertical section one form of producer adapted to carry out my process, the producer is divided into three sections, that is t0 say three compartments connected together. Through Z air blast enters from below, whereby hot gas is produced in H, the geatest portion of the gas being discharged for use through h.. A small portion of the hot gas, the quantity of which can be regulated by means of a valve s,

the coal distilling compartment E, the fuel passing from E to `V reaches the latter in a highly heated state. The mixed gases and vapors produced in the distilling compartment E, are discharged through c or conveyed into condensers for obtaining tar and ammonia.A

The producer is therefore characterized by the separate compartments, the number of which can of course. be still more increased by further division of the coal distilling compartment E l; the most essential compartment is the.v preliminary heating compartment V to which heat isssupplied as already stated from above and from below, for, as already stated, without the said separate preliminary heating it would be impossible to obtain hot gas from bituminous fuels.. Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is The process of manufacturing from bituminous fuel, producer gas discharged from the producer burning zone at the temperature of the latter, without coming into contact with a superposed layer of cooler fuel` which consists in providing an intermediate heating layer of fuel immediately above the zone from which the producer gas escapes, passing a small portion of the producer gas through the intermediate heating layer, and

simultaneously injecting secondary air mixed with steam into said intermediate layer, whereby complete combustion of the small portion of producer gas is secured, and carrying the resulting gases' through the superposed layer of cooler fuel in order to distil the latter.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name in resence of two witnesses, this first day of y ay, 1914. l

DR. EMIL FLEISCHER.

Witnesses LEO BERGHOLZ, PAUL ARRAS. 

